Credit: The Associated Press

Norwegian helmer Morten Tyldum's Alan Turing drama "The Imitation Game," with Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley, will open the 58th BFI London Film Festival on October 8th, marking the pic's European preem.

The biopic based on the life story of the crypotgrapher and mathematician who cracked the German "Enigma Code" during WWII, and was later prosecuted by the British government in the early 1950s for being a homosexual, will screen in London's Odeon Leicester Square, with key cast, Cumberbatch and Knightley, and helmer Tyldum, expected on the red carpet.

The Weinstein Company picked up U.S. rights to the hot pic for a reported $7 million earlier this year at the Berlin fest. TWC has set November 21 as its U.S. release date, one week after it is scheduled to go out in the U.K. via StudioCanal U.K.

"Imitation Game" also stars Mark Strong and Matthew Goode. Producers are Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky and Teddy Schwarzman. Pic is the English-language debut of Tyldum, who is known for romcom "Buddy," crimer "Fallen Angels," and thriller "Headhunters."

Warner Bros. originally developed the project after Graham Moore's script landed at the top of the 2011 Black List. Pic is based on the biography "Alan Turing: The Enigma" by Andrew Hodges.

The 58th BFI London Film Festival will run October 8-19. The full lineup will be announced on September 3.